The invention relates to a fastening device used for externally fastening cables or lines to a structure, including a fastening pin, which can be locked to an opening in the structure and in which a connecting duct is formed.
Such a fastening device is described in JP 2003-168878 A and serves to fasten cables to a board. A fastening device of the same type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,468 A. It secures an antenna cable to a tower.
A fastening device for externally fastening cables or lines to a housing of a brake cylinder is described in the previously unpublished DE 10 2004 04 4939. It includes a fastening clamp which is connected, on the one hand, to an annular flange of the housing part of a brake cylinder and, on the other hand, to the housing via a pin, which can be locked in the breather of the housing.
The present invention provides an improved fastening device in terms of its functionality for fastening cables or lines to housings.
The present invention provides a fastening device used for externally fastening cables or lines to a structure, including a fastening pin which can be locked to an opening in the structure and in which a connecting duct is formed for locking the fastening pin in a breather opening of a housing, in particular in a breather opening of a housing of a brake cylinder, in order to connect the interior of the housing to the atmosphere in the locked state.
The invention proposes using advantageously a fastening device, known from JP 2003-168878 A and from U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,468 A, for locking the fastening pin in a breather of a housing, in particular in a breather of a housing of a brake cylinder. Then, in the locked state the interior of the housing is connected to the atmosphere. Because a connecting duct is formed in the fastening pin, the breather is not closed off and can thus continue to carry out the function of ensuring that condensed water runs off from the interior of the housing to the outside, and that there is an exchange of air. This is essential in particular if, as is customary in practice, a plurality of cables and lines are fastened to the housing of a brake cylinder, and accordingly the majority of the breathers have to serve as fixing points for the fastening devices, which would otherwise be closed off and would thus have to be supplemented by other breathers which increase the fabrication costs.
In particular, a plurality of breathers can (or breather openings) advantageously be provided with such a fastening device without the exchange of air or the flowing off of condensed water being adversely affected by this so that cables and lines can also be connected to a plurality of locations on the housing. Since the breathers can then carry out their venting and water draining function unimpeded, the risk of corrosion in the interior of the housing is thus reduced, which is highly advantageous, in particular in brake cylinders which are significant for safety.
Advantageous developments and improvements of the invention are further described and claimed herein.
The fastening device is, in particular, preferably fastened to the housing only via the fastening pin, and the fastening pin is locked in the breather in such a way that the fastening device can be pivoted about a pin axis with respect to the housing. As a result, the cables and lines, which generally have a certain degree of rigidity, can align themselves freely with respect to the housing by virtue of the fact that the fastening device pivots in the respective direction. As a result, deflection or bending of the cables and lines can be avoided, which, on the one hand, increases their service life owing to the freedom from tension and, on the other hand, permits a short laying length, which is advantageous in particular in the case of pneumatic lines of brake cylinders, which have a length-dependent flow resistance.
The locking of the fastening pin to the breather of the housing can be implemented, for example, by virtue of the fact that the fastening pin contains at least two elastically deformable limbs which project away from a base body and have an intermediate slot which forms the connecting duct. As a result, the fastening pin performs a double function in that it both ensures that the fastening device is fastened to the housing in a lockable fashion and that, at the same time, it forms the connecting duct.
Closure of the connecting duct when the fastening pin is locked in the breather is prevented, for example, by virtue of the fact that at least one spacer element, which is in contact with an outer surface of the housing in the locked state, projects away from the base body such that an end section of the duct, which extends beyond the outer surface, is connected to the atmosphere, at least at the side.
According to a further preferred measure, the base body can also be provided with a through slot for feeding through an elastic plastic cable connector which is wrapped around the cables and lines to be fastened to the housing. In addition, the base body can be provided with at least two standardized receptacles for such elastic plastic cable connectors, which point in different directions. Cables and lines which cross over one another can then be fastened to the housing in a bundled fashion. In combination with the possibility of pivoting the fastening device, it is consequently possible to cover a large number of directions in which the cables and lines can extend with respect to the housing without deflection.
The plastic cable connectors can, preferably, also be locked to the standardized receptacles, for example by virtue of the fact that the standardized receptacles are formed by receptacle pins which have an undercut cross section and which can be locked into openings in fastening sections of the plastic cable connectors.